Theory of translation
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Chapter 2. SPEECH FUNCTIONS AND TRANSLATION§1. LANGUAGE AND SPEECH FUNCTIONSPragmatics studies language in use. Following Saussure, language in use is speech (cf. langue and parole). Large stretches of speech are called discourse. The use of language is associated with language functions. By function linguists mean the role and purpose of the language. Sometimes the term ‘function’ is understood in a more narrow way. In this sense, the term determines a role of a language element in syntax (the function of the subject, predicate, or object) and in morphology (the function of a form, the function of the suffix, etc.). Correspondingly, the term ‘function’ refers to an element position in a construction or the meaning of a form or construction. Two language functions are most widely recognized – communicative and cognitive (formulating thoughts), though there have been many attempts to establish more detailed classifications of language functions. The Austrian psychologist and linguist Karl Buhler singled out three language functions manifested in any speech event: expressive function (relating with the text producer), appealing function (focusing on the receptor), and referential (representation) function (representing objects and phenomena, i.e. the subject matter).219 Yuri Stepanov also based his language functions on the semiotic principle. He designated the nominative, syntactic, and pragmatic functions as universal properties of the language corresponding to the three aspects of semiotics – semantics, syntax, and pragmatics.220 The question of differentiating between language functions and speech functions has so far been disputable. Some linguists do not discriminate language functions from speech functions.221 Others stress the difference between them.222 While language functions are universal and constant, speech functions are typical of a certain speech event; they are temporary, characterized by definite language elements. Language functions are realized through speech. The most recognizable classification of speech functions belongs to Roman Jakobson.223 He distinguished six functions: referential (informative), expressive (emotive), conative (voluntative), phatic (creating and maintaining social contact), metalingual (describing language), and poetic (aesthetic). Following Halliday, translation theorists added one more function to the list – interpersonal function, which implies the speaker’s intervention in the use of language and the expression of attitude.224 Obviously, each discourse has more than one speech functions. As a matter of fact, it combines a number of functions but one of them is always predominant. §2. INTERPERSONAL FUNCTION AND MODALITY IN TRANSLATION.Interpersonal function as the expression of attitude is actualized through the category of modality,225 which is an obligatory feature of any utterance. The term ‘modality’ determines a wide range of the speaker’s attitude toward reality and the content of the utterance. Modality includes utterance oppositions on the basis of whether they assert or deny, whether they denote real, hypothetical or unreal information, whether the speaker is sure or hesitant, whether s/he finds the information necessary, advisable, etc. There are two types of modality - objective and subjective. Objective modality is obligatory for any sentence. It is expressed by the grammatical category of mood1, sometimes supported by particles (Пусть люди будут счастливы! Above all, I’d like to declare the following…) Mood expresses the speaker’s attitude to the action, whether it is real or unreal. The borderline between real and unreal actions is expressed in English by a modal verb: He might have lost his sight. – Он чуть не ослеп. In Russian the corresponding meaning is stressed by the particles чуть не. Whereas particles are very important in Russian, modal verb and subjunctive mood forms are more frequent in English: Don’t you think it would be wise? – Разве так не разумнее? Some particles require special attention to their usage in translation, especially such as hardly, scarcely, positive in form but negative in meaning: It’s hardly my fault. – Это не моя вина. I’d scarcely have done it if I didn’t think it was absolutely necessary. – Я, конечно же, не сделал бы этого, если бы не думал, что это так важно. Assertion and denial of facts is another kind of objective modality. Comparing English and Russian utterances from this angle, researchers point to a greater degree of categoricalness in the speech of Russians, which often leads to antonymous translations2: I don’t want people playing the piano at all hours of the day and night. – Я против того, чтобы на пианино играли день и ночь. John didn’t disobey his father. – Джон послушался своего отца. “Will you be in for supper?” asked her mother, sticking her head out from behind the kitchen door. “I don’t think so,” shouted Sally. (J. Archer) – «Ты будешь ужинать дома?» – спросила мать, выглядывая из кухни. «Думаю, что нет», – крикнула Сэлли. Special difficulties, connected with the translator’s knowledge base, arise when sentence negation is used for pragmatic purposes - to contrast the subject matter to common habits and customs.226 The case may be illustrated by the description of a character’s appearance from the play Orpheus Descending by T. Williams: …Val enters the store. He is a young man, about 30, who has a kind of wild beauty about him … He does not wear Levis or a T-shirt… Val’s clothes do not match the image of a typical young man of the time. To give this background information, a translator extends the sentence, giving necessary comments: …Вэл входит в магазин. Это молодой человек около 30 лет, необычайно симпатичный. … На нем нет привычных для молодежи джинсов и майки. Another problem regarding the positive and negative type of speech is the problem of enantiosemy, or a linguistic paradox, when a word or a sentence develops contradictory meanings, both positive and negative (лихой наездник ‘dashing rider’ – лихой человек 'slashing fellow').227 An enantiosemic utterance can be used ironically in the sentence and the connotation should be rendered in translation: You are a beauty! – Хорош ты, нечего сказать! A pretty business! – Хорошенькое дельце! A fine specimen! – Вот так тип! In Russian modality here is expressed by an inverted word order and intonation. Language can fix evaluative connotations with different words. In this case they become paronyms and can be easily confused in translation: a terrible accident ‘страшная авария’ – a terrific speed ‘замечательная скорость’. Subjective modality reveals the speaker’s attitude to the content of the utterance. This may reveal assuredness or hesitation. The means of expressing this type of modality in English are modal verbs (must, can, may, will), modal words (probably, perhaps, evidently, etc.), syntactic constructions (He is said to be clever – the speaker does not assert the statement definitely). In Russian, these means are also modal words (возможно; должен, нужно), constructions of the type “Говорят…”, and particles (ведь, неужели, хоть). In expressing this type of modality, particles play a more important role in Russian than they do in English: After us, the deluge. – После нас хоть потоп. There can’t have been a hundred people in the hall. – Вряд ли в зале было около сотни человек. One should keep in mind a range of subjective modal meanings expressed by English modal verbs:
They can’t be waiting there. – Не может быть, что они нас ждут там. Or a little more categorical: Не могут они нас там ждать.
Could he have said it? – Неужели он так и сказал?
He may be quite at a loss now. – Возможно, он сейчас растерян. And now that Cicely had married, she might be having children too. – Теперь, когда Сесили вышла замуж, у нее тоже могут быть дети. You might have been right. – Может быть, вы были правы. (Наверное…) near certainty, expressed by must: The cooling process must have begun several billion years ago. – Процесс похолодания, очевидно, начался много миллиардов лет назад. In Russian this modal meaning is also expressed by the words должно быть, вероятно, скорее всего, and others.
Jolyon is late. I suppose it’ll be June keeping him. – Джолион опаздывает. Должно быть, Джун задержала его. That would be his father, I expect. – Я полагаю, это его отец. Like any other verb expressing this type of modality, will may be used with the perfect infinitive. Forms like these signify supposition close to certainty: My honourable friends will have heard the tremendous news broadcast throughout the world. – Мои достопочтенные друзья, по всейвероятности, уже слышали потрясающую новость, переданную радиостанциями всего мира.
Possibility can be expressed by the modal verbs can and may, though they are not always interchangeable. Along with stylistic discrepancies (informal and formal, respectively), they differ in degree of objectivity, with may expressing a possibility depending on circumstances, and can, on the subject. A good example of “colliding” these modals is provided in an extract from Mikes: A foreigner cannot improve. Once a foreigner always a foreigner. There is no way out for him. He may become British; he can never become English. This difference in modal verb meanings can be translated through explanation: Иностранец не может измениться к лучшему. Иностранец есть иностранец. Для него нет выхода. Он может получить английское гражданство, но он никогда не сможетстать настоящим англичанином. Another set of modal meanings is necessity, compulsion, prohibition. In Russian they are mostly expressed by the modal adjectives должен, нужно. These meanings range from very formal to informal and increasingly subjective:
Modal verbs, varying from formal to informal style, may indicate interpersonal relations between communicators. Such pragmatic characteristics must be taken into account in translating. Sometimes, according to the functional principle of translation, it is necessary to make a translation substitution of a modal verb, even if it has a direct equivalent in Russian. This can be illustrated by an extract from a modern novel: “Can I have the stamp?” Goober asked. “May I,” Hellen corrected. “Дай мне марку,” – попросил Губер. “Пожалуйста,” – напомнила Эллен. The modal verb may, being more formal than can, sounds more polite in the described situation. In Russian, the translators M. Loriye and E. Kalashnikova expressed politeness with the etiquette word пожалуйста. A kind of etiquette phrase, expressing invitation, is the modal verb will / would. Its etiquette usage is predetermined by its modal meaning of consent, volition: If you will come this way, I’ll see if the principal is free. – Пройдите, пожалуйста, сюда, я посмотрю, свободен ли директор. Here also the modal verb is substituted with the parenthetical word пожалуйста. When translating modal verbs from English into Russian, one should be careful of polysemy. A modal verb may have several meanings; which one to choose can be decided only in context. For example, He may live here can be equal to Ему можно здесь жить (permission), Он, возможно, живет здесь (possibility or uncertainty). §3. EXPRESSIVE FUNCTION IN TRANSLATIONThe expressive, or emotive, function is closely connected with the interpersonal function, as it also shows a person’s attitude to what s/he is talking about, the emotions s/he feels when saying something, irrespective of any response.229 It shows the mental state of a person in relation to what s/he is talking about. Most typically the expressive function is met in colloquial speech, in fiction, in journalistic register. Researchers have described some components that make up the expressive function:230
Emotive semes, or emosemes, are bits of meaning, with the help of which a person expresses emotions. “You old fool,” said Mrs. Meade tenderly… (Mitchell) – “Ах, ты, дурачок,’ – нежно сказала миссис Мид…The word tenderly showspositive emotions expressed in the first words, which makes a translator choose a diminutive form of address in Russian and reduce the adjective old (compare the opposite meaning of the phrase “Ах, ты, старый дурак”). As has been described in Part IV Chapter 9 §3, expressive affixes are a cultural and linguistic peculiarity of Russian. Though they exist in English (-let, -ster, -ard, -kin, --ling), affixes of this type are used far less frequently. Emotions (regret, annoyance, etc.) can be expressed not only by notional emotive words, but also by interjections: Since we did not succeed, why, we must try again. – Раз мы потерпели неудачу, что ж, надо попытаться снова. Modal verbs can also contribute to expressing emotions, for example, irony. This is typical of the modal verbs would, could and might: “And then Harry got drunk.” “He would do, wouldn’t he!” – “И затем Гарри напился.” “Это так на него похоже!” You could help me with the dishes! – Мог бы помочь мне с посудой! Expressive semes (expressemes) intensify the denotative meaning either by special intensifying phrases or by creating an image through a metaphor or simile. Intensification can involve the use of adverbs. The position of an adverb can be decisive in meaning and it, therefore, effects the translation: They attacked him violently. – Они напали на него со всей силой (physical assault is implied.) They violently attacked him. – Они подвергли его яростным нападкам (verbal assault is implied.)231 In informal American English, the phrases sort of and kind of are used as intensifiers before any part of speech, including the verb: “He doesn’t have any job,” Maxwell explained. “He just sort of hangs around various labs and lends a hand.” (M. Wilson) – “У него нет работы,” – объяснил Максуэлл. “Он вродекак крутится возле разных лабораторий и помогает.” He is kind of clever. – Он вроде умный. In Russian, particles and adverbs are widely used as intensifiers. Special syntactic constructions are used to intensify the expression: Don’t I know that! –Мне ли не знать этого! Who should come in but the mayor himself! – Кто бы вы думали вошел – сам мэр! Look here, Father, you and I have always been good friends, haven’t we? – Слушай, папа, мы с тобой всегда были хорошими друзьями, правда? Comparisons, similes and metaphors have good expressive power.1 …Я открыла глаза, смотрю: она, моя голубушка, сидит на постели, сложила вот этак ручки, а слезы в три ручья так и текут (Л.Толстой). - …I opened my eyes and looked: there she was, the darling, sitting on the bed with her hands clasped so, and the tears came streaming out of her eyes (Transl. by S. Lubensky). The Russian idiom течь в три ручья is substituted here by a metaphorically charged verb, converted from a noun. This sentence illustrates another typical dissimilarity of Russian and English. Russian communicators tend to apply zoological metaphors to addressing people (in this sentence we deal with the appositive metaphor: моя голубушка). These images are alien to foreigners. English-speaking people use quite a definite set of expressive means in this case.* Appreciative semes (appresemes) are responsible for the speaker’s approval or disapproval of a situation. It is interesting to know that in Russian and English semes for disapproval prevail over approbation semes (there are more words for blaming than for praising).232 “You are a fine honest rogue, Scarlet!” A rogue! Queer that the term should hurt her. She wasn’t a rogue, she told herself vehemently. (M. Mitchell) – “Ты прекрасная убежденная плутовка, Скарлет!” Плутовка! Странно, что это слово так ранило ее. Она вовсе не плутовка, яростно повторяла она. A sudden combination of words with different appreciative connotation does not soften the negative meaning of the word rogue and this contrast must be rendered in translation. Context plays a very important role in determining the appreseme.Depending on the situation, the phrase What a man! can be translated with approval: Какой человек! Ну и человек! Вот человек! Вот это человек! or with disapproval: Что за человек! Ну и тип! Prosody of the utterances would also be different. Russian diminutive and pejorative forms of address (Ванечка – Ванька) are usually lost for an English-speaking person, unaccustomed to such forms: Ванечка, подожди минуту! (И. Куприн) – Vanya! Wait a minute. Stylistic semes (stylesemes) lower or elevat the tone of speech. K. Chukovsky illustrates stylesemes with his well-known denotative synonyms: Светловолосая дева, чего ты дрожишь? Рыжая девка, чего ты трясешься? Stylistic semes regulate semantic agreement of words. The following sentences seem odd or humorous because they include words with opposite stylistic charges: He commenced to scratch his back. Графиня хлебала щи с аппетитом. Since not all stylistically charged words have equivalents of the same style in the target language, there is a possible trap for a translator to lose a styleseme or change it. Pragmatic semes (pragmemes) arouse communicator’s particular background associations. These semes are most difficult to render, since they may fail to coincide even for representatives of the same ethnic culture but of different generation (the phrase “союз нерушимый” will evoke nostalgic feelings of the former country, the USSR, with an elderly person, but it practically says nothing to a teenager, who does not know the anthem of the USSR and has no such association). Translation from one language into another is far more complicated. Stars and Stripes, Star-Spangled Banner, Old Glory sound pompous to an American who recognizes the paraphrase for the national flag of the USA. But the representatives of other nations may miss this pragmeme. Different people do not have the same symbolic associations. For Uzbeks, the moon is associated with a girl’s beautiful face, which is reflected in their folklore. But A. Pushkin used this image in the opposite sense: Кругла, бледна лицом она, как эта глупая луна. Thus ethnic and cultural differences between peoples interfere with translation and require thorough investigation on the part of the translator and subtle work at conveying all expressive semes. How can a translator obtain adequate translation or, to use the term by E. Nida, dynamic equivalence? Among the most frequently used techniques for obtaining the text expressive function in translation are compensation and substitution. Particularly common is asymmetrical compensation, that is, using a compensated element in some other place of the text. This can be illustrated with an extract from “The Catcher in the Rye” by J. Salinger. Holden is describing his brother: He just got a jaguar. One of those little English jobs that can do around two hundred miles an hour. It cost him damn near four thousand bucks. He’s got a lot of dough, now. – Купил себе недавно «ягуар». Английская штучка, может делать двести миль в час. Выложил за нее чуть ли не четыре тысячи. Денег у него теперь куча. (Пер. Р. Райт-Ковалевой) Some of the expressive words (damn, dough) are lacking in this translation. But their expressiveness is compensated by other words, (more emphatic than their English correspondences - выложил, штучка, куча) and elliptical Russian sentences. §4. PHATIC FUNCTION IN TRANSLATIONPhatic function is the function for maintaining, supporting and ending a friendly contact. The term is derived from Latin for, fatus sum, fari “to talk”. The term was introduced in the book The Problem of Meaning in Primitive Languages by the British ethnographer Bronislaw Malinowski (1935) who was the first to notice that at parties small talk, lacking any particular information, is unavoidable. The phatic function is used for calling somebody’s attention, greetings and other etiquette formulas, interruptions, vocatives, small talk, etc. These means are called phaticisms – they are normal for social communication, which gave grounds for Peter Newmark to call them “the usual tramlines of language”.233 Phrases for calling attention and asking to repeat. A universal means for calling attention is Excuse me… - Простите. In Russian this phrase is often accompanied by an address word: Простите, девушка, вы не скажите… In English communication address forms are not used as often as in Russian. In America, the phrase I beg your pardon / Pardon is no less frequent than Excuse me.234 Either of these English expressions can be used for echoing questions or requests, when a person has not heard or understood something. Russians in a similar situation tend to ask Что?, which, if literally translated into English (What?), sounds rather impolite. Forms of address. The English-speaking community uses the titles Mr., Mrs., Miss, Ms. [miz, mэz]. The titles Mrs. and Miss are opposed to Ms. on the basis of the marital status of a female. The titleMs. has been widely used for females from older teenagers upwards, especially in American English, since the 1970s, when it began to be used by women who did not want to be known according to whether or not they were married. Although in common use now, this title still carries associations of feminism. The title Mrs. may be used either with the married woman’s forename (Mrs. Mary Brown) or, more formally and more rarely, with her husband’s name (Mrs. John Brown). In the latter case, her name is translated as госпожа Браун, супруга Джона Брауна. The title Miss, placed before the name of an unmarried woman or girl, is becoming rare. It is still used in British English, though, as a respectful form of address by pupils to a woman teacher. Translation of these titles depends on the text register. In official business register these titles are translated as господин, госпожа. In newspaper and magazine articles these titles are usually reduced in the Russian text (except for officialese). In fiction, the titles are usually transcribed: мистер, миссис, мисс in order to retain a national coloring of the text. There does not exist, as yet, a transferred term for Ms. Beside these universal forms of address, a person may be called by his/her position or vocation: Your Excellency! – Ваше превосходительство! Г-н посол! (addressing the ambassador); Mr. President – Г-н президент; Mr./Ms. Chairperson – г-н/г-жа председатель, Prime Minister – г-н премьер-министр, Ladies and gentlemen – дамы и господа, Officer – г-н офицер (addressing a policeman, a customs officer), Doctor – доктор (a medical doctor), My lord – милорд (addressing a judge, a priest), Father – батюшка (a priest), Professor (Brown) – профессор (Браун) (addressing a British professor, formally), Doctor Brown – доктор Браун (addressing American professor, formally), waiter/waitress – официант(ка), porter – носильщик, nurse – нянечка, сестра. The last three forms of English address have recently been considered somewhat impolite. A universal form of address in the service sphere is sir or madam, which signal respect to a customer. But they are transliterated only when applied to a foreign (not Russian) situation: Can I help you, sir/ma’am? – Чем могу помочь, сэр/мадам? When addressing a Russian customer, no title is usually used. Intimate and friendly addresses in English and Russian communication are also different. In the English-speaking community, the following forms predominate: My dear, darling, dear, love, honey, sweet – with the associations of tenderness, and love. Russian people use similar vocatives (дорогой, милый, любимый, сладенький – intensified by a diminutive suffix). Moreover, Russian vocatives are often metaphorical (солнышко), especially with the zoological image (рыбочка, котик, зайчик, цыпонька, etc.). In order not to produce a strange effect upon an English-speaking receptor, metaphors like these are left out in translation. A very informal form of address in today’s American English is guys, corresponding to the Russian ребята, irrespective of the communicators’ gender. In Russian, unlike English, there is no universal form of address. Дамы и господа is restricted to the world of business; товарищ is now outdated; сударь/сударыня sound pretentious, гражданин / гражданка are restricted to the sphere of law. More or less common for everyday usage are девушка, молодой человек, женщина, мужчина. In translation these forms of address cannot be calqued and should be substituted by proper English analogues. Etiquette formulas. English greetings are usually accompanied by phatic phrases How are you? Or How are things? How are you getting on? How are you doing? What’s up? (very informal). These phrases correspond to the Russian Как дела?, but in Russian the phrase is a little less frequent than in English. Politeness requires to continue this small talk by I am fine (not nice!). How are you? With the shift of stress from how to you. Russians are apt to answer this question with Нормально, which by no means can be rendered by normally in English (it is a translator’s false friend). This type of small talk allows communicators to establish a bioenergetical contact and in this way to show a friendly attitude to each other. Of course, this type of dialogue is informatively void; a recital of one’s physical and mental state as the answer to the “How-are-you?”-question is not acceptable. Recall a joke based on substituting the phatic communication with the informative one: Who is the most boring person in the world? One who, when answering a How are you? question, actually starts saying how he is.235 Bidding goodbye has also some peculiarities in English and Russian, (unfortunately, they are often not followed in video dubbing). When saying goodbye (especially over telephone) to a very close person, an English-speaking communicator will say I love you. In the Russian text it sounds more natural as Целую rather than Я люблю тебя. §5. CONATIVE FUNCTION IN TRANSLATIONConative function is a voluntative expression denoting effort. As R. Bell put it, “where language is being used to influence others, we have a conative function.”236 The term is derived from Latin conatio “effort, attempt”. P. Newmark gives another name to this function – the vocative function.237 The conative function is frequently carried by commands, prohibitions, requests, permissions, advice, invitations, etc. Linguistic devices for expressing these meanings are, as a rule, typical set phrases, etiquette formulas, specific to various languages. Therefore, a translator should be aware of the main differences, which will make him/her sound natural in the target language. In comparing English and Russian conative expressions, one marks a basic difference between expressions of request. In English, polite requests normally have the form of the interrogative sentence with a modal verb: Will you pass me the salt, please? May I introduce my wife to you? Could I speak to Mr. Robbin please? These utterances correspond to Russian imperative sentences: Передайте, пожалуйста, соль. Разрешите представить вам мою жену. Пригласите, пожалуйста, к телефону г-на Роббина. The interrogative form of request is also used in Russian, but with the negative verb in the Subjunctive mood, it is stylistically marked, and ceremoniously polite: Не могли бы вы передать соль? A contrary instance is a very informal non-modal request to do a simple thing238: Ты не сделаешь это? Вы не сделали бы это? (more polite than the former example). The latter request corresponds to the English Would you mind doing it?, which is not completely neutral. English negative interrogative imperatives are less tentative and more persuasive: Won’t you come and sit down? Couldn’t you possibly come another day? They expect a positive answer.239 Imperative sentences exist in both the languages. However, in English they are practically impossible unless supported by please: Give me a call, please. In Russian, the tag can soften a pushy and abrupt tone of the ‘bare’ imperative: Позвони мне, ладно? Structures like this are very informal. English imperatives can also have a tag: Give me a call, will you. However, these Russian and English tag-requests have a different imperative force, the English sentence sounding more like a command than a request.240 The conative word please is so inherent to the English imperative that it may be used without a comma (in the beginning of the sentence) and pronounced without a pause. For example, Please eat up your dinner. Please hurry up.241 The imperative meanings expressed by English modal verbs range from polite request, mild advice to strict and urgent command and prohibition:
The conative function is frequently carried by utterances which appear to be innocently signaling something quite different.242 These utterances, taken out of context, seem to be carrying an absolutely different function, mostly informative. But in some situations they have a transferred function: У вас есть часы? meaning Скажите, пожалуйста, который час. Are you still here? meaning Go away at once! It’s so stuffy here meaning Open the window, please. As P. Newmark says, many informative texts have a vocative thread running through them, so it is essential that the translator be aware of this.243 The conative function can be performed by the utterances with performative verbs, that is verbs naming an action and performing it simultaneously. Perfomative verbs make the utterance very formal: I congratulate you… I inform you…May I invite you to dinner next Sunday? Я прошу… Я советую… Я предупреждаю… Perhaps, in Russian performative verbs are used more often; at least a typical Russian Можно спросить…is considered unacceptable in translation (Could I ask…). To prepare a listener for an enquiry, it is more natural to ask, Could you possibly answer my question…? Addressing another participant of the conversation, a Russian interlocutor will often begin by Скажите, пожалуйста… The literary translation of the phrase (Tell me, please…) strikes an English speaker as a little harsh sound – it is better to say Could you please tell me…? Written discourse has its own conative formulas, which are more formal:
R.S.P.V. (this French abbreviation requires your reply whether you accept the invitation or not). Many manuals have been published recently with samples of all sorts of business correspondence, including invitations, regrets, gratitudes, etc.244 |